Former Harrison pastor, city councilman who stole over $500K from church gets probation in plea deal

A former Harrison pastor and city councilman who stole over half a million dollars from a Harrison church has received probation and been ordered to pay restitution as part of a plea deal in the case. Forty-nine-year-old Brian Keith Herring was the pastor of the former Faith Assembly of God Church, now known as Harrison Faith Church, in 2021 when he was accused of stealing nearly $525,000. He was charged with felony counts of theft of property, second degree forgery and tampering with physical evidence.
In the plea deal reached with the prosecutor this week, Herring agreed to plead guilty to the charges of theft of property and forgery while the charge of tampering with physical evidence was dropped. Herring was given 17 years of probation, ordered to pay $100,000 of restitution to the church, pay a $1,000 fine and he must do 800 hours of community service.

According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, several members of the church had contacted the Boone County Sheriff’s Office about missing money from the church. While an audit was underway, Herring turned in his laptop, iPad and two cell phones that belonged to the church. All of them had been factory reset. Church officials told investigators they may have contained account information.

About six weeks later, once the audit was complete, law enforcement went to Herring’s residence to locate him, but the home was empty and was up for sale. Investigators were able to track Herring down and he came in for an interview a few days later and was arrested.

Herring served on the Harrison City Council three years before having to resign because he moved out of the city limits in 2017.

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